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Moore From Lake Placid

John Moore, a defenseman who was chosen No. 21 in the first round of the 2009 Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, is one of 29 players currently attending the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. The majority of the U.S. roster for the 2010 World Junior Championship in Saskatchewan will come from this camp.

Moore has agreed to give an inside look at the happenings of camp. Return to NHL.com for more of John Moore's camp blog.

Going homeSaturday, Aug. 15, 2009, 12:00 p.m.

Today we had a very early morning as our bus left the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid at 2:30 a.m. in order to get to the Albany airport for our flights back home. From the moment I sat in my seat, I was lights-out. We pulled up to the airport at around 5 a.m. and everyone seemed to either track down a place to eat or an empty bench where they could sleep. My flight to Chicago arrived at 7:30 a.m., and the moment I got home I went straight to my bed to catch up on sleep.

Looking back on camp, it was a great experience to get to know the guys and the coaches and showcase your talent. I had a lot of fun and the whole experience definitely motivates me to have a strong start to the year so that I can hopefully be a part of this team moving forward into the World Junior Championships.
A good day offThursday, Aug. 13, 2009, 8:30 p.m.

Today we did not have a game, but we did have a practice, from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. We woke up at around 8 a.m. and grabbed a quick bite to eat before we headed over to the rink. Once we got to the rink we played a game of "tips" for a warm-up and then hit the ice. Practice was very competitive as we did a lot of games and my team came out on the short end in the shootout meaning, that we had puck duty.

Once we wrapped up at the rink, we had the rest of the day to ourselves to relax and recharge the batteries. A couple of guys took advantage of a beautiful day and headed down to the beach to get a quick swim in Mirror Lake, which is in downtown Lake Placid. As we all spend a lot of time indoors in a rink and as a result are pretty pale, there were some bad sunburns on some of the guys.

Once we wrapped up downtown, we headed back to the training center and took it easy. I spoke with my teammate from the Chicago Steel, Kevin Lind, who is representing the U.S. at the Ivan Hlinka tournament in Slovakia. He had just scored the game-winner to send the U.S. to the bronze-medal game and he was pretty jacked up.

Finally, I headed back to the room and am now just taking it easy and getting prepared for our final two games. Tomorrow's game should be very competitive as we are playing on the Olympic-sized sheet here. Hopefully we can continue our success and come out with two more wins, but everyone is just taking it one game at a time.

Tricks and treatsWednesday, Aug. 12, 2009, 10:30 p.m.

Today we had the second practice time, which meant our team was able to sleep in just a little bit and get up at around 8 a.m.

Practice was very up-tempo again today in preparation for our game against Russia. Once we got back to the training center it was again back to the cold tub to get the legs ready. After this I retired back to my room with my roommates, Ryan Bourque and Jake Gardiner, where we shut it down for a little pre-game nap.

We headed over to the rink a little after 4 p.m. for our 6 p.m. game. We had another hard-fought game against the Russians and were fortunate enough to come out on top again. Immediately after the game we had a meal waiting for the team in the rink that we wolfed down before heading back to the training center for the night. Once there, I called back home and caught up with my Dad for a little bit. After this I met up with the guys, who were all in Derek Stepan's room. He was doing some card tricks that were pretty crazy and I still am shaking my head about. After this I headed back to the room hit the hay.

Welcome to Lake PlacidTuesday, Aug. 11, 2009, 10:30 p.m.

My name is John Moore and I will be keeping a blog these next couple of days while I am in Lake Placid for the U.S. World Junior Camp.

Today was our first of four games against the Russians and everyone was pretty pumped to play another country. We woke up at around 7 a.m. and headed over to the rink to practice. Practice was really intense and high tempo and it was great to get out moving before our game later that day.

From there we headed back to the Olympic training center, which is just down the road. A lot of the guys, including myself, like to take ice baths to get our legs going and so I reluctantly climbed in just before grabbing some lunch and shutting it down for a nap. I will admit that the ice bath is a little more bearable in the summer, though. Once I got up from my nap, Chris Kreider and I had our daily ping-pong match before we headed to the rink for our game. Today I came out on top but Chris has had my number all week.

Once we got to the rink it was all business and fortunately we came away with a win tonight, taking an 8-1 decision. Following the game we grabbed a post-game meal and headed back to the training center to prepare for tomorrow's game. Russia is a very skilled team and these next couple of games should be very competitive. I look forward to keeping you updated on my stay in Lake Placid during these next couple of days.